The Best Math Games for Your Second Grader
My oldest is in 2nd grade now, and after years of play-testing games with me, he has pretty high standards for new games. So I can say this with full confidence: He loves all these games, and I expect your kids will, too!
I've been working my way through all my old recommendations to find the best games for any age, so you can check out my previous editions of this newsletter at the links below.
So let's check out these 2nd grade games!
Kingdomino
Kingdomino has been one of my son's favorite games for years, and I credit it with introducing him to the idea of multiplication. The best part of this game is that, while you can learn a lot about multiplying while playing, you don't need that knowledge to play and have fun. His kindergartener sister loves this game just as much as he does!
The object of the game is to make a kingdom from dominos. Get it? Kingdom-ino?
You have a 5x5 (or 7x7) square in which you can make your kingdom, and six types of land. The goal is to make large areas that contain many crowns. You score points based on the number of connected squares of the same color, multiplied by the number of crowns inside that area. So your child can see their score growing over time.
My son started learning multiplication by skip-counting to figure out his score as the game progressed. If he had an area with 3 sections and 2 crowns, he'd count by twos to get six. Then, if he added a fourth section, he'd skip-count again to see that his score was eight. Game by game, he got used to the idea of counting equal groups, which is the foundation upon which multiplication is built.
The game also helps kids think about planning moves in advance, spatial reasoning, and strategic thinking. I have introduced it to my son's friends, cousins, and grandparents, and they've all had fun playing. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Click here to buy Kingdomino on Amazon (affiliate link)
Number Grid Tic-Tac-Toe
If you're looking for a free game that kids also love, you can't go wrong with Number Grid Tic-Tac-Toe. This game was invented by Joe Schwartz, one of my favorite math teachers and writers. Joe is a master teacher, and his ideas are always worth reading, but this game in particular has been a hit.
To play, you start with a blank hundreds grid. The first player picks a cell on the grid and writes the matching number in their color marker. Then the opponent claims a different cell by writing its matching number. Every time you connect four in a row, you get a point. The player who ends with the most points, wins!
I love this game because it takes a classic game format (tic-tac-toe or Connect 4) and introduces a mathematical constraint. Your child will navigate the hundreds chart, making connections between the locations of the cells. What is the cell directly above 56? Well, it's 46, since the hundreds chart is a 10x10 square.
For a challenge, you can start the chart at a different number. Instead of 1, start at 201 or 901, or even a weird number like 356! That really increases the difficulty, but also the fun, of finding the matching numbers.
Beast Academy Puzzle Books
I first found the Beast Academy books when I was searching for pandemic-friendly math materials for my son. The whole curriculum is fantastic, to be honest, but I absolutely fell in love with the Beast Academy puzzle books.
The puzzles are masterfully designed. Each one is intended to help your child practice or explore a specific math topic. Many of the topics are focused on addition and subtraction, but there are interesting geometric puzzles as well as puzzles about place value and other topics.
My favorite part about math puzzles is that, in the process of solving a simple puzzle, your child might do 20 or 30 addition problems mentally. Imagine placing a worksheet in front of your child with 30 addition problems on it. Who would complete that for fun? Nobody, that's who.
But put those same problems in the context of a puzzle, and lots of kids will happily spend 5 or 10 minutes working their way to the solution. Not only that, but the spatial constraints of the puzzle provide an additional source of mental exercise along the way.
If I could turn every elementary math worksheet into a puzzle sheet, I would. Unfortunately, nobody has put me in charge of our nation's math curriculum. But at least I have Beast Academy.
Click here to buy the Beast Academy puzzle books on Amazon (affiliate link)
Qwixx
Qwixx is the latest addition to my son's list of favorite games. I had heard of this game for years but hadn't picked it up until this winter. I gotta say, I love this game. It's cheap, fun, and fast, so you can play more than once in a half-hour.
To play Qwixx, you roll six dice: two white dice, and then four distinct colored dice. Players take turns claiming numbers by adding pairs of dice together and marking off the sum on their scorecard. The only constraint is, you must claim numbers in order from left to right.
The numbers for red and yellow ascend, so once you've claimed the yellow 5, you can't go backwards and claim yellow 2, 3, or 4. As a result, each space you claimed could be a double-edged sword, gaining you points but closing off your opportunity to gain even more later.
The game gets kids thinking about probability, simple addition, triangular numbers, and expected value. But most importantly, it's a game that your kids will want to replay over and over, and along the way their understanding of the game (and the underlying math) will grow more sophisticated. Maybe they'll start to wonder why they roll so many 7s but so few 12s, for instance...
My wife doesn't love all the games we buy, but I figured she'd be excited to play this one. And she was! Although she still can't figure out how to beat our son.
(I haven't beaten him either but nobody tell her that)
Click here to buy Qwixx on Amazon (affiliate link)
Shikaku
I have already shared the Beast Academy puzzles, which I love. But I wanted to give a special shout-out to my favorite puzzle for this age group: Shikaku puzzles.
I love these puzzles because they help your child encounter one of the most important ideas in elementary math - the relationship between multiplication and the area of a rectangle.
The Shikaku board starts with a bunch of cells, some of which have numbers inside. Each number belongs inside a rectangle with that area. So a 6 must belong in some rectangle with an area of six.
As your kids play, they'll start to notice some patterns. For example, 12 can be placed into a 1x12 rectangle, a 2x6 rectangle or a 3x4 rectangle. On the other hand, a number like 7 only has one rectangle that fits it, the 1x7 rectangle. Why is that?
While your kids won't formally learn about the area model, or prime and composite numbers, in second grade, this game will give them a visual model for understanding those ideas once they encounter them later in elementary school. And, like all the puzzles I share, these are waaaay more fun than a worksheet on the same topic.
Click here to buy a book of Shikaku puzzles on Amazon (affiliate link)